FOXBORO, Mass. – It is a very long walk from where the teams were lined up at midfield and the penalty spot, a walk made even longer when you are the fifth shooter and there is an opportunity to end the game. Find the back of the net and your team is moving on. That walk gives you a lot of time to think about the consequences of your next kick.
Foxboro senior Meghan Burke seemed unfazed by the noise, the cold, or the pressure. She walked to the spot, calmly put the ball down, and fired a shot into the bottom right corner to hand the Warriors a 1-0 (4-3) win over Newburyport in the Div. 3 Round of 16 on Wednesday night at Sam Berns Community Field.
“I named my five players and said, you girls go decide who’s going to go first and I was completely shocked they had her go fifth because she’s usually really nervous,” Foxboro coach Katie Stalcup said with a laugh. “She swaggered out there and nailed it. It was impressive.”
When Burke was asked to describe her feelings during the walk up, she replied, “Surprisingly I was pretty calm. The coaches have been having us practice these PKs since the beginning of the season but I knew my girls had it from the start.” Asked if she always planned to go bottom right, she laughed, “Yeah, I’ve been practicing that spot.”
After a scoreless 100 minutes, the teams lined up for the shootout. The Clippers missed the opening kick and Jordan Carman buried hers low to the left. In the second round it was Newburyport that made its shot but Erin Foley’s penalty slid past the post to even things at 1-1. Both teams made their kicks in the third and fourth rounds, including Lindsey Resnick’s shot that slid under the body of Port keeper Gabriella Loughran.
The shootout was tied 3-3, but in the fifth round Foxboro keeper Allie Sougaris, who hadn’t been forced to make a save since cutting out a cross in the 44th minute, guessed correctly, diving to her left to make a stop and give Burke the chance to win the match.
“That was beautiful,” Stalcup said of the save. “The way she has grown and matured and her confidence has just taken off the second half of the season. I believed in her. I believed she was going to make a save out there and she believes in herself. It was awesome.”
Foxboro’s win was extra impressive because the Warriors played 80 minutes of game time without All-American Kailee McCabe, who left with an injury midway through the first half. Not only did Foxboro manage without the league MVP, but the Warriors dominated the second half and extra time and created numerous chances to win the game before it got to penalties.
“You could tell they felt a little worried when Kailee went out but the way they all came together and just kept fighting and kept pressing, I mean, we had the ball in their half for all of the overtime,” said Stalcup. “This team, the way we just fight and never give up, the grit, I’m just so proud of them.”
Burke noted, “We knew that we win as a team, we lose as a team, everything happens as one unit. It’s just hard work and just supporting everybody.”
The first half was limited in terms of scoring opportunities for either team. Kayelyn Gallagher forced Sougaris into a save with an early free kick. Carman caused the Clippers some problems with her pace and driving runs from midfield, forcing Loughran into a couple of saves with shots from distance. Foley nearly got on the end of a Burke cross and got a touch to a Carman corner, but that was as much as either team mustered before the break.
When the teams came out of the halftime interval, it was Foxboro that stepped on the gas and started to push the Clippers deeper into their defensive third of the field. Neve Taylor had a great chance three minutes after the break when she took a pass from Carman, cut inside to open up shooting space in the box, and then fired a shot just over the bar.
Lauren Miley had a good look at a shot from the edge of the box two minutes later, but that one skidded wide of the near post. Foley then drove forward from midfield to open space for Jaclyn Vecchione on the left wing, but the Clippers were able to get back just in time to block the shot out for a corner. Foley and Miley were bossing the midfield for Foxboro, winning the ball back and sparking attacks.
“Lindsey (Resnick) played amazing in the back, just clearing everything out,” Stalcup explained. “We watched some game tape and we knew No. 3 (Deirdre McElhinney) was really dynamic on the ball, so I gave Lauren the assignment of staying on her. She did an amazing job and Erin just cleaned the ball up and distributed it so beautifully.”
Newburyport’s best chance came on the hour mark. A foul on the edge of the box gave Gallagher a chance to try and put one on frame, but Foley was able to get a foot out and block the free kick. Five minutes before the end of regulation, Carman went on a long run from midfield and let fly with a left-footed shot from just outside the box but it was narrowly wide.
In the first overtime, Foxboro continued to up the pressure. A Carman corner bounced in the area and popped out to Brooke Barreira at the back post but she wasn’t able to make clean contact. Early in the second overtime period, Taylor had a shot partially blocked and it nearly fell to Vecchione but Laughren went bravely at the Foxboro winger’s feet to make the save.
The game was forced to a shootout and it gave the chance for players to step up in the clutch. On Wednesday night, Sougaris and Burke came through for the Warriors.
“I’m so happy,” Burke said, trying to reflect on her emotions after making the spot kick. “Even in that moment, I was just so relaxed and happy. The whole game, it was just intense. I was in shock, so I’m just so happy and I still have the smile on my face!”
Foxboro (15-1-4) will be back at home in the quarterfinal round, hosting No. 23 Ursuline Academy, which beat No. 26 East Bridgewater 2-0.